India's Sun Pharma tumbles after report of probe

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Dec 3 (Reuters) - Shares of India’s Sun Pharmaceutical Industries sank more than 10 percent on Monday after a report of a regulatory probe against the country’s biggest drug manufacturer by market value.

Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is likely to reopen an insider trading case against Sun, a report by the PTI carried here in Indian daily Economic Times said.

The SEBI will also probe alleged lapses by some of Sun’s promoters in raising funds overseas, the report added.

A whistleblower approached the SEBI with a document alleging various irregularities by the Mumbai-headquartered company, its promoter Dilip Shanghvi and others, the report said.

Sun Pharma, its managing director and nine other entities had settled an insider trading probe last year after paying a settlement amount but the SEBI had not disclosed any details of the case at the time, the report added.

Sun did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.

Its shares hit their lowest in six months and were on course for their worst one-day performance in 18 months, weighing on the NSE index.

More than 37 million shares changed hands by 0647 GMT, over five times Sun’s 30-day moving average trading volume.

The stock has already fallen over 16 percent since mid-November, when the drugmaker reported a surprise loss for the September quarter.

In the days following its financial results a brokerage raised concerns over corporate governance practices at the company, according to media reports. Sun responded last week, saying any issues only concerned historic events. (Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar)